Obergefell v. Hodges

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Transcript of Obergefell v. Hodges

Obergefell v. HodgesThe IssueJames Obergefell married his husband, John Arthur, in Maryland three months and eleven days before he died of ALS. Due to the ban on same-sex marriage in their home state of Ohio Obergefell was not written as the surviving spouse on Arthurs' death certificate.He wants their marriage to be respected as a straight couples' marriage would be.The Civil Courts' DecisionJudge Timothy Black ordered the state to respect the couples' marriage on Arthurs' death certificate, however, this was only a temporary solution for a major problem.The AppealOn July 19, 2013 lawyers from Gerhardstein & Branch Co., LPA, and Newman & Meeks Co. filed a federal lawsuit in the 6th Circuit on behalf of John Arthur and James Obergefell who were looking for legal respect for their marriage.The PetitionFor a same-sex couple to not be able to marry demeans the LGBT community. What would be the harm of allowing the LGBT community to wed? Another argument of the plaintiffs being that same-sex marriages are comparible to intreracial marriages of the past, in that interracial marriages were once banned, as same-sex marriages are now.The OppositionThe LGBT community does not seek to join the definition of marriage, but to change it, entirely. The main point of marriage is procreation, something which is currently impossible for same-sex couples. Building on that, seperating marriage from child-rearing could have disastrious repercutions.Court DecisionThe supreme court has yet to reach a decision on wether, or not, to strike down Ohios' same-sex marriage ban and to add protection for same-sex couples to the fourteenth amendment.